Empire Falls Season 1 Episode 1
Empire Falls
Season 1

Ep 1. 1. Empire Falls (Part 1)

  • TV-14
  • May 27, 2005
  • 110 min
  • 7.3  (95)

In the opening installment of the HBO miniseries Empire Falls, we're introduced to the titular small town in Maine, a once-thriving mill community now in decline. Our central figure is Miles Roby (Ed Harris), a middle-aged man who's spent his entire life in Empire Falls and has taken over running the local diner from his father. Miles is a good-hearted soul who genuinely cares about those in his community, but he's also feeling stuck, knowing his ambition to leave town and attend college was derailed years ago by a combination of family obligations and economic necessity.

As the pilot gets underway, Miles is dealing with a couple of major stressors. First off, his wife Janine (Helen Hunt) has left him for a local health club owner named Walt (Dennis Farina), something that's been brewing for a while but still hits Miles quite hard. Janine is the love of his life, and while he had a sense that things weren't good between them, he's still reeling from her exit. Her departure leaves him with sole responsibility for their teenage daughter, Tick (Danielle Panabaker), a headstrong girl who's trying to get her driver's license and navigate her own romantic relationships.

Meanwhile, Miles is also dealing with the looming presence of Francine Whiting (Joanne Woodward), the wealthiest woman in Empire Falls and the owner of the town's biggest employer, the now-shuttered mill. Francine has a long-standing grudge against Miles and his family, going back to a couple of incidents involving Miles' grandfather and father when they worked for her. Francine seems to take pleasure in exerting her power over the town and its residents, and as the episode progresses, we see how deeply entrenched she is in local politics and business.

Despite these challenges, Miles is trying to keep his head up, remain positive, and do right by those he cares about. He's got a good friend in police officer Jimmy Minty (Ed Begley Jr.), and he's also got a kind of confidant in Catholic priest Mark (Paul Newman), who offers wise counsel and a sympathetic ear. Much of the pilot is spent setting up the various relationships and dynamics in Empire Falls, as we meet other townspeople such as Miles' mother (Robin Wright Penn), her new boyfriend (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and Walt's wife (Estelle Parsons).

One of the more intriguing elements of the pilot is how it plays with time, cutting back and forth between different eras in Miles' life. We see flashbacks to his childhood, including an incident involving a schoolyard bully that has eerie echoes in his present-day run-ins with an obnoxious local businessman named C.B. (William Fichtner). We also see glimpses of Miles' relationship with Janine, how they fell in love and started a family, and how the cracks in their marriage started to appear.

The first episode of Empire Falls does a solid job of setting the stage for what's to come, introducing us to a richly realized small town and a protagonist we can't help but root for. Ed Harris anchors the show with his subtle, nuanced performance as Miles, conveying both his decency and his frustration. The supporting cast is impressive as well, with Woodward and Farina in particular making strong impressions as the town's richest and second-richest inhabitants, respectively.

Overall, "Empire Falls (Part 1)" is a strong opening chapter that lays the groundwork for a powerful character study and a portrait of a community in transition. The show has a lot on its plate, with themes of class, family, and politics woven through the narrative, but the writing and direction are skilled enough to keep it all coherent and engaging. If the rest of the miniseries lives up to this promising start, we're in for a treat.

Description
Watch Empire Falls - 1. Empire Falls (Part 1) (s1 e1) Online - Watch online anytime: Buy, Rent
Empire Falls, Season 1 Episode 1, is available to watch and stream on HBO. You can also buy, rent Empire Falls on demand at Google Play online.
  • First Aired
    May 27, 2005
  • Content Rating
    TV-14
  • Runtime
    110 min
  • Language
    English
  • IMDB Rating
    7.3  (95)